In the Middle Ages the area was heath and woodland belonging to Chertsey Abbey. Becoming part of the Botleys Park estate towards the end of the 17th century, the land came into the ownership of politician Sir Joseph Mawbey (1730-1798) in the 18th century. In due course, the estate was inherited by his son, also Sir Joseph Mawbey, whose near neighbour and close friend was the flamboyant and controversial parliamentarian Charles James Fox, (1749-1806).
Fox was Britain’s first Foreign Secretary, a champion of liberty and had a taste for the high life. The gambling and socialising excesses of his early years gave way to gentler twilight years. He came to live at the home of his mistress, Elizabeth Armistead, on St Anne’s Hill. Fox scandalised London society by marrying Mrs Armistead but settled into the life of a country gentleman with her for the rest of his life.
He helped his friend Mawbey transform part of his Ottershaw estate by planting hundreds of trees in the area that became known as Fox Hill or Fox’s Hill. These plantings gave rise to the woodlands that are still enjoyed at Foxhills today. The memory of Charles James Fox is kept alive in The Fox Dining Room where the dining offering is a conscious nod towards Fox’s love of socialising.
On the death of Mawbey in 1817, the estate was broken up with Sir Joseph’s son-in-law, John Ivatt-Briscoe, a successful lawyer and local MP, buying the area known as Fox’s Hill and France Farm.
In 1840, Ivatt-Briscoe commissioned George Basevi (1794-1845), cousin of Benjamin Disrael and better known as the designer of London’s Belgrave Square and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, to design the fine manor house that remains the centrepiece of the country club to the present day. In the 1870s, the estate passed to a distant relative of Ivatt-Briscoe, General Hutton. A veteran of the Zulu and Boer wars, Hutton took an active role in local life.
The house served as a convalescent home for wounded officers during the First World War, after which it was sold to the Borthwicks, a successful merchant family. They ran the estate in the traditional manner with many house and estate staff. During the Second World War the family turned the farm over to the Dig for Victory campaign.
By the 1960s, the estate had fallen into decline, and it was sold to Aer Lingus, the National airline of Ireland. The airline opened two golf courses in 1975, although it was not the immediate success the company had hoped for. As a result, Foxhills was sold for £1.4 million in 1983 to businessman Ian Hayton and his wife Pam. He modernised the club and put an emphasis on families, giving equal status to women which was quite unusual for a golf club in the early 1980s! In addition to strengthening the Club’s reputation as a family-friendly leisure destination, Foxhills has expanded its sporting facilities far beyond a simple golf course to cater for the diverse interests of its members and visitors.
Marc Hayton, son of Ian and Pam took over the management in 2010 keeping with and building upon family values. Today, Foxhills features two Championship golf courses, one par 3 course, 66 bedrooms, three restaurants, eleven tennis courts, a brand new yoga cabin, four swimming pools, an award-winning health spa, conference and meeting facilities, and a weekly cycling club, capitalising on its status as official resort partner to the Aviva Tour of Britain and home to Team GB’s road race cycling team during the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Pavilion, a brand new family building is opening in May 2021.